Before we begin, I would like to let you know that I had done a little modification in the previous chapter about the way the Ursa Major is killed in the forest; I had been thinking and I had realized that a Pichu, if it really strained itself, could release enough energy to briefly stun an Ursa Major, but definitely not enough to kill it.
Chapter III – Is There a Doctor (and Maybe a Shrink Too) in the House?
"D... Did Pichu just... shoot a lightning bolt out of his body?"
"Thank Gods. For a moment there I thought I was the only one who saw that." Yang responded, then chuckled. "Well... That was shocking."
Her teammates groaned in response.
"Although, let's acknowledge the elephant in the room." Ruby said.
"Which is...?" Weiss asked.
"That that... was... AWESOME!" the reaper raised her fists in the air while shouting that last word, then she turned toward the Electric-type rodent, "Pichu, how did you...?" She suddenly stopped herself from talking as her smile slowly faded off her face to be replaced with an expression of worry as she was saw the yellow rodent lying motionless on the grass. "Pichu?" When the cartoon animal did not respond, Ruby instantly knelt at his side and lifted him in her arms, with her teammates standing behind her equally worried. Nonononononono! "Pichu! Are you alright? Answer me! Pichu! What happened!"
"His fur smells like burnt hair and it is covered in soot!" Weiss noticed, "He must have been hurt by his own lightning!"
Tears started forming in Ruby's eyes while she was trying without success to wake her new friend up. The reaper then got up with Pichu still in her arms turned her head toward her teammates, "We can't leave him here! We have to get him somewhere! A vet, maybe?"
"Where?" Blake said, "In case you forgot we are all still stranded in the middle of the nowhere! How do we get out of here, anyway?"
The girls thought for a few seconds, until Ruby finally realized, "The Scrolls!" and she pulled her Scroll out of her pocket.
"Of course!" Weiss responded, while she, Blake and Yang looked at each other with faces that said 'Do we look like dolts right now!', "I cannot believe we have forgotten about them until now! We will just contact Beacon and...!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NO SIGNAL'?!"
Everyone turned their looks toward their leader and saw the expression of confusion mixed with worry on her face as she was looking at her device's screen, tears forming again in her eyes.
"Wh... What did you just say right now?" Weiss asked.
"My Scroll is not getting any signal!" And the red reaper turned her device for the others to see the "NO SIGNAL" message appearing white on blue on the screen. The others adopted the same expression of worry.
"What?!" The heiress took out and opened her own Scroll only to see the same "NO SIGNAL" message. "No... Impossible!" Then, she turned toward Blake and Yang. "Any luck, you two?"
The black cat and the yellow brawler looked at Weiss, shook their heads and turned their own Scrolls toward her, showing the exact same thing.
"How is this possible?! Theoretically, there is supposed to be no place on Remnant the CCT signal could not reach to!"
"Yeah... Theoretically..." Blake commented.
The four huntresses were looking at each other perplexed.
"That's just freaking great!" Yang said in frustration, "What do we do now?!"
"WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP!" Startled, Weiss, Blake and Yang looked at their leader, taken by surprise by her outburst. The reaper quickly realized what she had done and said this time much calmer, "I... I'm sorry... I-I-It's just that..." she wiped her tears as she was trying to find her words.
Yang came near her baby sister and put her hand of her sibling's shoulder "Hey... It's okay, sis..."
Ruby looked at her older sister, smiled, then adopted a serious look and continued, "Look, what I am trying to say is that we can't just despair like that. I mean... we're Team RWBY! I these almost eight months since we have been students at Beacon Academy, we had dealt with a lot worse! The Emerald Forest? Mountain Glenn? That mad scientist guy, Doctor Merlot? Life has thrown a lot at us, and it always ended the same way: with us overcoming the odds and making it on top! And as long as I am the leader of this team I will be darned if I will let this be any different! Which is why I am asking you: Are you with me?"
The other huntresses looked at each other, then Yang finally said "Hehehe, hell, yeah! That's my sister!" Then she asked Weiss and Blake "You heard her you two! What is your answer?"
The heiress and the faunus looked at each other, then at the sisters, then smirked and nodded confidently.
"Perfect!" Ruby exclaimed happily "Then let's get the heck out of here!"
"Okay, then... what direction do you suggest we go to?"
"Wellllllll..." the team leader looked around her trying to find the proper answer until... "There!" she said as she pointed her finger in a certain direction. Her team looked in that direction and adopted faces of relief when they saw what appeared to be a beaten path on the other side of the clearing. So they went there to check and make sure and, when they reached it, there it was, clear as day, a beaten path that exited the forest through one side and entered back in through the other.
"Oh, my gosh! We were so busy with the Grimm we have not even noticed!" Weiss said.
"Well... which way should we go?" Yang asked.
"Does it matter?" Blake asked further, "Let's just pick a direction and go there."
"Okay then..." Ruby intervened, and eventually pointed to her right, "I say we go that way!" Then, without further ado, she went "that way", with Pichu still passed out in her arms. "Come on, Team RWBY! What are you waiting for?!"
"We're right behind you!" Yang answered with a grin on her face and, soon enough, the whole team found herself back into the forest, running along the road toward (hopefully) civilization.
About ten minutes later, the girls finally saw the edge of the forest, where the trees finally ended and, a few moments later, they finally got out of the forest and, in front of them, they could see the road continuing over some hills and into the horizon.
"Finally!" Yang groaned.
"Come on, girls!" Ruby said, "We may have a better view from the top of those hills."
So, one minute later they were at the top of a hill, and there all girls took faces of joy and relief when the first thing they saw in front of them in the distance was a city. It appeared small due to being so far away, but there was no doubt about it. The girls had finally found civilization.
"Oh, thank Gods Almighty!" Weiss exclaimed, "We're saved!"
"See, girls?" Ruby asked, "What did I tell you?... Come on!"
Just outside the unknown city
Sometime in the evening
The sun had already started to set by the time the girls reached the entrance in the city on the sidewalk of a highway with a few cars driving on it toward wherever they had their business. The girls never thought they would be so happy to see a paved road. In front of them they could see several houses and buildings and, right near them was a large billboard that had written on it: "Welcome to: Viridian City – The Eternally Green Paradise"
"Viridian City?" Weiss asked, "I have never heard of this place. Girls?"
"No."
"Nope."
"Can't say I have."
"We can figure that out later. Right now we have more pressing matters." Ruby pointed with her head down to the poor wounded mouse that was still resting in her arms.
"Right. Let's go then." Yang said.
The huntresses proceeded into the city and ran frantically through the streets trying to find help. They took out their Scrolls and checked once again in hopes that now they would get a signal since they were inside a city so they could use their devices and find the nearest veterinarian. However, once again, all they saw was the same "NO SIGNAL" message.
"How is this even possible?" Blake asked.
"I guess all we can do is ask someone."
The girls looked around them for the person closest to them and they saw an old couple walking on the sidewalk in opposite direction.
"There!" Ruby said and rand towards the elderly couple "Excuse me!"
The two elders turned around and saw the red reaper running toward them.
"Yes? Is there a problem?" the old man asked.
"Um... Yes. Could you please tell where could we find a veterinarian for our friend here?" and she showed the elders the wounded Pichu.
The old woman looked and was shocked when she saw the poor rodent and the state he was in, "Oh, my! George, look at that poor thing!".
"Yeah, little buddy seems pretty roughed up! If you are looking for the Viridian Pokémon Center, it is located close the city center, which is in that direction!" the old man said while pointing in the direction of a large boulevard. "Keep running along this boulevard in that direction, you should reach the city center in around 30 minutes, after which you should keep going slightly further south!"
"Th... Thank you!"
"You are welcome, dear!" the old woman responded with a smile and she and her husband continued on their way.
"'Po-kay-mon Center'? What the hell is a 'Po-kay-mon Center'?" Yang asked confused.
"Who cares, as long as they could take care of Pichu here?" Ruby asked back, "Let's go!"
Viridian Pokémon Center, Viridian City
~40 minutes later
After Team RWBY had reached the city center they had asked the passers-by where was this so-called "Pokémon Center" located. Eventually, they had ended up in front of a large building, which had a panel right above the main entrance that said "Pokémon Center". Ruby tried her best to hold back her tears of joy at the thought that her friend was finally saved. She looked at the little rodent and put two fingers on the side of it neck and sighed in relief when she found a pulse, albeit a rather weak one.
Without further invitation, the quartet entered through the large glass doors into an enormous lobby where they immediately saw the receptionist's desk right in front of them. They ran to the desk and behind it, sitting on a chair, was a nurse with pink hair who was looking over a clipboard and did not notice the four girls who had just entered.
"Excuse me!" Nurse Joy lifted her eyes from the clipboard and saw four girls in front of her.
"Hello! May I help you?"
"Yes!" the girl in red said despair pretty clear in her eyes. "Our friend here is hurt, and he won't wake up! Could you do something? Please!"
The nurse moved her eyes downward and she quickly got up from her chair and her eyes grew wide when she saw the severely wounded Pichu in Red Hood's arm. "Oh, my goodness!" Then she leaned over the desk and hollered, "Chansey! Come here, quick!".
One moment later "Chansey" came, and the girls found themselves looking wide-eyed at a pink 3'7'' (1.1 m) egg-shaped creature. It had stubby arms, dark pink feet, small black eyes, three hair-like growths with dark pink tips on each side of its head, a short tail and, last but not least, a dark pink pouch on its belly in which it was carrying an actual egg. It was also wearing a small nurse's hat on top of its head.
"Chansey! Chansey!"
"I need a stretcher here for a wounded Pichu, stat!"
The Egg Pokémon nodded and ran off.
In the meantime, Nurse Joy came to the girls and took Pichu from Ruby's arms, "Give him to me, ma'am, please!"
"I had already checked his pulse, it's pretty weak!" the red reaper explained.
Nurse Joy also checked Pichu's pulse, "Yeah, I can tell!"
One moment later, Chansey returned with a stretcher. Nurse Joy laid Pichu down on the stretcher. "Chansey, I need you to send him to the ER and stabilize him! I will be with you shortly!" The Egg Pokémon nodded and ran off with Pichu.
After that, Nurse Joy went to her desk, grabbed a clipboard and a pen, and sat on the couch opposite of the one the girls were sitting on.
"Hello, again, ladies! My name is Nurse Joy, may I get your names, please?"
"Sure! I am Ruby Rose."
"Weiss Schnee."
"Blake Belladonna."
"Yang Xiao Long."
"Alright, now you are going to have to give me a description of how did this happen."
"Uuuh..." Ruby hesitated for a second to say anything, believing the nurse would consider her crazy if she told her lightnings came out of the little yellow mouse's body. Eventually, she gained the courage to explain to the nurse what happened, "He ended up like this after he shot out a lightning from his body."
The nurse glanced at the reaper for a second then said, "I see... And why did you not put him back in his Poké Ball?"
Ruby stood there and looked at Nurse Joy confused, "P... Poké Ball? I do not have a... Poké Ball."
"So does that mean that Pichu is not yours?"
"Uh... Not really. We just met him this afternoon. We were lost in the middle of a forest, and we just came across him."
"And was that before he hurt himself using an Electric-type move?"
Again, Ruby was confused by the way Nurse Joy talked, Electric-type move? "Y... Yes, ma'am. He was perfectly fine when we met him."
"Yeah... It is pretty normal for that to happen to Pichu. As baby Pokémon, they are young and inexperienced, so normally it is hard for them to hone their electric powers, which is why they tend to accidentally electrocute themselves. Although that poor little guy must have really put himself to work because I have never seen one to have electrocuted themselves that badly. You are lucky you have brought him when you did. A few seconds later, he may have died!"
All four girls gave the nurse weird looks. She was talking as if yellow bipedal mice that produced lightnings from their bodies were something normal in these parts. And just what was with that word they kept hearing, "Pokémon"? What was the meaning of that word?
"And since you say you had encountered him in the woods I assume you do not know of any potential health conditions, do you?"
"No, ma'am. Will he be alright?" Ruby felt tears coming back in her eyes.
Nurse Joy gave the reaper a reassuring look. "We had managed to stabilize in the ER. I had notified the doctors and they will do the best we can. You brought him here in a pretty bad condition, but Pokémon are known to heal their wounds a lot quicker than humans. I am positive he will survive, and you will be able to visit him with my permission."
"Th... Thank you." The reaper wiped her eyes, a smile appearing on her face.
"You are welcome, dear!" Nurse Joy got up from the couch and went away toward whatever room Pichu was into at the moment.
Thus, the four huntresses remained there, on the couch. Yang, who was staying beside Ruby, saw her sister looking at downward, sadness on her face. So she put her hand reassuringly on her sister's shoulder. "Hey, now, sis. Look at me." The reaper turned her head and looked in her older sister's eyes, "Everything will be fine. Pichu will be fine. And I am not going to let you of all people abandon hope. Not after you'd delivered us three that whole speech about not giving up."
The reaper kept looking at her sister, then at Blake and Weiss who were also giving their own reassuring smiles to their leader. The reaper then smiled and chuckled, "Yeah, what kind of huntress and leader would I be if I did not listen to my own advice?"
"Exactly! See? Now we're talking!" the yellow brawler friendly bumped her sister in the arm with her fist.
"Owww!... Yang!" Ruby playfully shoved her older sister with her hand in retaliation.
The two stepsisters laughed, and Blake and Weiss looked at them smiling.
"Alright, if none of you are upset anymore, I think it is time we assessed our current situation." Weiss eventually said.
Blake was the first to respond, "Well, we should begin with the fact that we are in a place we have never heard of in our lives, with animals like we have never seen in our lives. And I am not only talking about Pichu or that pink egg-shaped thing, Chansey. Just take a look around."
And the other three looked around and saw several people with all sorts of weird animals. On a cough next to them, there was an old woman that was reading a book with one hand, while scratching a beige cat with a gold plate on its forehead that was napping and purring happily on her lap. Near her was a little boy that was playing a clapping game with a blue turtle that was standing up on the coffee table. At another table, a small humanoid creature with blue-gray skin and three crests on its head was arm wrestling with... a boulder with a face and two arms. And all the while, two guys in their 20s were cheering them on. Eventually, the gray-skinned humanoid won.
"Yes!"
"No!"
"I think you know what you have to do now." The first guy said to the other with a smug grin.
The other guy rolled his eyes took out his wallet, sighed, from which he took a piece of green paper which he gave to the first one. But then he smirked and said, "I will get you next time."
"Yeah, right! That's exactly what you said the previous three times."
"Man, screw you!" And he shoved the first guy chuckling. They both laughed and sat back down with their non-human companions beside them.
"Yeah.." Weiss eventually said, "And these are not the only ones. Back out there, I saw a woman walking a fox with six tails, as if it was a dog."
"And I saw a little girl carrying in her arms a caterpillar the size of a dachshund."
"And did you hear that word people keep saying? Pokémon?" Yang intervened. "What does that mean."
Weiss thought for a second then came with a hypothesis: "I am going to go out on a limb and say that 'Pokémon' is a generic term for all these strange pets that seem to be pretty common around here. Actually, I am inclined to say they represent a rather important part of this place's culture. I mean, just look at this place. It is definitely way bigger than what you would expect for a veterinarian's office. It looks more like a hospital for humans. An entire hospital dedicated to treating these animals."
"Some people really love to spoil their pets..." Yang turned toward Ruby with a shit-eating grin on her face. "...as my little sister here can attest."
"What?!" Ruby asked in indignation with a frown on her face and her hands one her hips, "What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Oh, come on! Which one of us was always bathing and grooming and dressing up Zwei in all sorts of fancy outfits, including a miniature replica of her own red cape, and saying they were 'cape buddies'?".
"Yaaaang! I was nine back then! Zwei was a puppy, and I still had repressed excitement because we had just gotten him recently!" Ruby's face became as red as her cape.
Yang giggled at her sister's embarrassment, "You kept doing that for three years!" causing the younger sibling to become even redder than her cape (if that was possible) and pull her hood over her head, which in turn caused the blondie to laugh even harder.
"Ahem!"
The two half-sisters turned their attention to Weiss, while Ruby took her hood off her head.
"In case you forgot, we were all in the middle of something here!"
"Mood killer!" Yang groaned.
Weiss, sighed, pinched her nose, then continued "As I was saying, these... Pokémon seem to be a very big deal in these parts, and I don't think any of them is unique. You heard the nurse. She knew that mouse's name and referred to the name 'Pichu' in plural form. I can deduce from here that Pichu is not actually the name of the mouse, but the name of his species. Perhaps the same thing applies with the pink one, Chansey. And each one of these animals can only articulate the name of their own species, but nothing else, which is rather nonsensical."
"And apparently the nurse knew Pichu could shoot lightning from his body, as if it is something normal." Blake intervened, "And there are other things like that sentient rock with a face from before. I am gonna go out on a limb and say that at least a part of these animals actually have superpowers. And there is also something else I wanted to talk with you about: these people don't seem to give a damn about the Grimm. I mean, did you notice when we entered this city? There were no walls, no turrets, to guards,... no anything. A single Beowolf could easily enter the city by itself with nothing to stop it."
"Yeah... and I saw no other Huntsman or Huntress on the streets beside ourselves. As far as I know, we are the only people around here – maybe besides police – carrying weapons. This place is not prepared in the slightest for a Grimm attack. I am actually surprised it had managed to resist long enough expand into major city. Everybody knows that no big settlement such as this could afford to let its guard down in a world like Remnant... Anyway, we will worry about that later. Now we will move on to the next issue on our list: money."
"Never thought I would hear you say that money are an issue." Weiss glared deadpan at Yang, unamused by her quip.
The brawler rolled her eyes, "Come on, Weiss! How is money an issue anyway? You alone have a piggy bank fuller than the rest of us combined."
"Well, that is true, however the issue here is not the amount itself, but their validity."
"What are you talking about? You say that these people may not accept our money? Why wouldn't they?" Ruby asked confused. After all, it's not like they were obtained through any shady means, or anything.
"I had taken a look at the storefronts on the way here, and one thing I'd noticed was that the prices had a symbol other than the one for lien. It clearly means that this place uses a currency other than lien. And since we have nothing but lien, this gets us to our aforementioned money issue."
"And this in turn gets us to another issue: that of how are we supposed to book a hotel room or get food and other supplies." Blake added.
"Ever the optimist you are!" Yang commented. "Listen, if you want money I can get you some."
"Oh, really? How?" Weiss retorted.
The yellow brawler leaned forward and so did the other three Huntresses, the she started to whisper "It's simple! Now it's sunset, so there can't be long until it goes dark. Once the night sets, we try to find an ATM in a more secluded area, and we extract money from there."
"How? Will you use a card?"
"No, I'll use my fists." The brawler answered smugly, "I am pretty sure an ATM can only take so much damage."
The other three's eyes grew wide when they heard the brawler's plan. It didn't take long for them to realize what she had in mind.
"Wait a sec, that is your great idea?! Robbing an ATM?!"
"No... Robbing a few ATMs." The brawler then adopted a serious look and continued, "*sigh* Listen, I know it is not a very bright idea due to many reasons, but at this moment, have you got a better one?"
Ruby, Weiss and Blake all stayed silent, trying to figure out a better idea, but they ultimately gave up.
"Very well, then!" Blake sighed, "But I am coming with you. If we are to commit a crime out of necessity, we'll have to do it silently, which you are the complete opposite of."
"Why, thank you!" Yang said proudly.
"In that case, I say we should go out now and look for potential targets so that we will know where to go at night."
Thus, the black cat and the yellow brawler exited the Center and went on their illegal, but justifiable mission, while the red reaper and the white princess stood there and reflected onto their situation.
This better be worth it! Weiss thought.
As long as they don't harm anyone, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Ruby thought.
~five hours later, 23:14 (They had a clock on the wall in the lobby so now they knew what time it was)
Ruby and Weiss were lying on the couch trying their best to alleviate their boredom.
"Is it a living being?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, go on." Ruby answered.
"Is it black?"
"Nope."
"Is it green?"
"Nope."
"Is it red?"
"Yup."
"Does it walk on two legs?"
"Yes."
"*sigh* It's you, isn't it?"
"Aaaaand we've got a winner!" Ruby smiled, but it was short-lived because a few seconds later, boredom kicked in again. "*groan* I'm booooooored!"
"Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious!"
Ruby was going to say something in return, but then she turned her attention to the entrance, "Oh, look, they're back!"
Weiss also turned her look toward the entrance and saw Yang and Blake coming toward them. The Faunus and the brawler sat on the couch beside their teammates.
"Hey, there! Were you bored in our absence?" Yang asked looking cautiously around herself, as if to make sure nobody was suspicious of what they had just done. Then she turned toward the reaper and the heiress and saw them glaring at her with deadpan looks. "Okay, I'm gonna take that as a yes!"
"Took you long enough!"
Blake scoffed at Weiss's comment, "You try to rob some ATMs without getting spotted!"
"Besides, those things are a real piece of work!" Yang added.
"Regardless, did you get anything?"
"Yes..." Yang looked around once more then leaned forward pulled her yellow top lower and Weiss and Blake saw the many green papers protruding out from the blondie's bra cups. "Yes, we did." Yang answered with a smug grin on her face, then rearranged her top to cover up the loot.
Weiss turned her look toward Blake, who responded with: "Yup... She did. Anyway, after we finished our job we counted the cash and, there are almost 5000 'Pokémon dollars', as they're called."
"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, "That's a lot of cash!"
"Not bad for our first time, right?" Yang said smugly.
"And hopefully our last time." Weiss responded.
"Excuse me? Ruby Rose?"
All four girls turned toward the source of the voice and saw Nurse Joy standing next to them.
They all got up and Ruby replied, "Yes? Is this about Pichu?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the nurse said with a smile on her face, "No need to worry anymore! Pichu is completely healed, and he is being brought here as we speak."
"Really?!" Ruby could feel the joy surging inside herself as a smile appeared on her face, and she gave all her best not to burst in tears. Not sure, how to react, she immediately glomped the nurse, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!". In the meantime, the girls also sighed in a combination of relief and joy.
"No need, ma'am! I'm just doing my job." Nurse Joy turned her head to her side and continued "And here comes the little tough guy!"
Ruby released the nurse from her embrace, looked in the same direction as her and saw Chansey approaching them, holding Pichu by the hand.
"Pichu!" The others were hardly able to see Ruby running toward the rodent Pokémon, but they saw her lifting him up and squeezing him into a hug.
"Pichu! Pichu!" the Tiny Mouse Pokémon exclaimed with tears of joy when he recognized the red-hooded girl. He had only known her and her friends for only... how long? Half an hour? And he had already started feeling a bond forming between him and Red Hood. He just couldn't help it. He really wanted to find out more about the four weird humans who fought scary monsters with weapons and what looked like Pokémon moves.
And it was not just that; there was also the complete gratitude toward them. The last thing he remembered before he had woken up in a hospital bed was that he had created the biggest Thunder Shock in his life to defend himself against that horrible giant bear creature, before passing out. Thus, he remembered that the only people that were there besides him were those girls. So, even a little kid like him could figure out that it must have been said girls the ones who brought him here, at the Pokémon Center. His assumptions had been confirmed by that Chansey who had taken care of him and had told him how he ended up there and how Red Hood had been tearing up and she and her friends had been staying there this entire time, waiting for him. If it wasn't for them, he would have been dead by now; they had saved his life. Now there was no way in heck he was going to leave them.
Eventually, Red Hood released Pichu from her embrace and held him in her hands in front of herself. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright! Does it still hurt anywhere?"
Pichu shook his head and Ruby sighed in relief, then turned around toward her teammates and the nurse, all of whom were smiling.
"I gotta say, I'm impressed!" the nurse giggled "You had just met him in the wild, and you have already become friends."
"Well, I would love to keep him if it is possible." Ruby said.
"Oh, of course you can, ma'am! Although you will have to acquire a Poké Ball to register him to, as required by the law. Feel free to purchase one from that vending machine over there."
Team RWBY looked and saw two vending machines standing next to one another by the wall in the waiting area.
"Thank you, we will." Ruby replied.
The nurse left and the girls went to the vending machines and studied them. One of them had nothing unusual to it; it was full of snacks and drinks, most likely for the humans. The other one was slightly bigger than the first one and, instead of snacks and drinks, it contained some rather unusual things, which they figured must have been for the Pokémon; inside they saw such things as spray bottles, jars with pills and...
"There!" Ruby pointed toward the lowest shelf of the machine, where they all saw a few rows of small spherical objects, each row of a different color. And one of them, colored in red, was labeled "Poké Ball", and near the name was the price: 200 dollars.
"Whoa, quite pricey!" Yang remarked.
"Yeah, these things cost a lot more than the snacks and drinks in the other machine." Weiss said, "Pokémon care must be pretty expensive."
Yang looked around herself, took two 100 dollar bills from her bra, inserted them in the proper slot, set the number of the Poké Balls, and one of the balls fell off the shelf into the pick-up box. Ruby opened the box and took the Poké Ball, and all of them studied the thing. It was very small, the size of a ping pong ball, and bicolored; one half was white, and the other was red, and separating the two was a thick black line surrounding the ball. In the middle, they saw another small white circle with a button in it.
"Sooo... How do we use it?" Ruby asked.
"I say we figure it out after we found a place to sleep at." The girls went back to the Nurse Joy at the reception desk, "Excuse me, do you know a place around here where we could sleep at over the night?"
"Oh sure! There is a hotel just a few blocks from here in that direction. From what I remember, the desk is open 24 hours a day."
"Alright, thank you!" the heiress said as they turned and went back toward the vending machines.
"You're welcome!"
Team RWBY and Pichu purchased several snacks from the "humans" vending machine and proceeded toward the exit.
City streets
23:16
Team RWBY was walking on the sidewalk of the large boulevard toward the hotel, carrying bags of snacks and bottles of drinks and Pichu resting in Ruby's right arm.
"Phew! We've had quite a day today! I can't wait eat something and then go to sleep!" Ruby commented.
"I cannot wait for a shower!" Weiss added.
"That makes two of us." Blake added.
"Yeah, I'm gonna sleep like a baby and you better not wake me up earlier than... What the...?"
"What?"
The other girls stopped walking and turned toward the brawler, who was looking up toward the sky, shock visible on her face. So, the others also looked upward and adopted the same expressions of shock. What they saw left them completely speechless.
Eventually, Blake found the strength to say something: "The moon... The moon!"
"It's... all in one piece?" Weiss asked incredulously.
They looked at each other in complete disbelief of what they had just seen.
Hotel room, Dandelion Hotel
23:26
Team RWBY was accommodating the room they had bought. It was a large room with two double beds, a fairly big bathroom and a glass door that opened up to a balcony.
"Not too shabby!" Yang said satisfied.
The check-in had not been very hard. However, they could not let the girls in with weapons, so the girls had had to leave them in a storage locker during their stay. The girls had been surprised by this, because normally hotels allowed Huntsmen and Huntresses keep their weapons with them in their rooms.
Soon enough, all four Huntresses and Pichu were sitting on the edge of the beds, Blake and Weiss on one, Yang, Ruby and Pichu on the other.
Each of the girls was eating from a bag of chips. They were all lost in their thoughts, trying to process what they had just seen.
Pichu, meanwhile, was eating from a box of cheese crackers and was staring at the girls trying to figure out why the four humans were so lost in thoughts. A while ago, outside, the girls had all been weirded out by the moon. First, they don't know what Pokémon are, and now this? Just who are these people?
Then, Ruby stopped eating and said: "OK, girls! After giving it some thought, I have come to the conclusion that there is only on logical explanation for all this."
"Which is?" Weiss asked.
"Girls... I don't think we are on Remnant anymore."
Weiss, Blake and Yang suddenly stopped eating too and stared at their leader.
Pichu, on the other hand kept eating and listening in on the conversation. Remnant? What is Remnant?
"E... Excuse me? Did I hear this correctly? Did you just say...?"
"Yeah, yeah! I know it sounds crazy, but... come on!... How else could you explain everything we have been through today, huh?..."
"And This is the logical conclusion you have come too?"
"Well, so far everything we have seen today is pretty illogical." Yang came to her sister's defense, "I mean, weird cartoon animals with superpowers? A moon that is definitely not our moon?" the brawler looked at Blake, "No Faunus?"
The black cat was taken by surprise by that last question
"Hmph! You would take her side!" Weiss reproached.
"Hold on a second!" Blake intervened "What do you mean by 'No Faunus'?!"
"Come on, Blake!" Ruby replied, "Haven't you noticed? This whole time we have been in this city, have you seen one Faunus around?"
The feline Faunus thought for a second, then realized Ruby had a point. "N... No..."
Weiss scoffed incredulously at what she was hearing "What?! Don't tell me you are actually on board with them too, Blake?!"
And she was not the only one baffled by the conversation. Pichu had heard everything the girls had said up until that point and could not believe it. These people are from another world? They're aliens? If that is true, then, aside from the fact that it would super-awesome, it would also answer all my questions about these weirdos.
"Sorry, Weiss, but... we really can't find any other explanation to all this! And how about also the total lack of defenses against the Grimm I'd mentioned before? Now that I'm thinking of it, it may be because there are no Grimm!"
"Uh... How about the Grimm we've encountered in the forest today?"
"Who says they couldn't be the same ones from the ruins in Forever Fall? They have also been caught in the same giant ball of light that sent us here. It must have sent them here too."
Weiss scoffed, then tried to say something, but, after a couple of seconds, she realized she was outmatched, so she ultimately gave up, sighed and pinched her nose. "You know what? It's already pretty late, so I say we wrap it up, go to sleep, and reflect on this all tomorrow."
Yang yawned loudly, "Agreed! I'm freaking spent!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
Thus, everybody went to bed after Blake turned off the light; Blake and Weiss in one bed, Ruby, Yang and Pichu in the other. While it as hard at first for everyone to close their eyes with everything on their minds at that moment, they eventually managed to fall asleep. Ruby and Pichu were the last to fall asleep, but before that, Ruby looked at her pint-sized rodent friend, who was lying on the red reaper's pillow, looking back at her. "Hey there, little guy!" the reaper whispered with a smile, "You must have heard our little conversation." Pichu replied with a nod. "*faint chuckle* Then I assume you must be very confused" The little rodent chuckled and nodded again. "Well, no need to worry, pal! We'll figure it out tomorrow."
The Red Hood petted the Tiny Mouse Pokémon on the head then closed her eyes and, one moment later, Pichu also fell asleep with a smile on his face. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Before I wrap this up, I would like to make an announcement: I have just opened a Patrreon account where for anyone willing to show their support and enjoy some extra benefits (shout-outs, access to newsletter, etc.).
Unfortunately, I cannot post the link here, but my username is: TheSoldierOfFortune